Page 243 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
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222 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
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to all known curious coincidences in the Bible, the coincidence regarding Haman s

sons is expounded in this section, notwithstanding the personal difficulty that I
experience in detailing that coincidence.

Esther , Mordechai, and Haman are the three central figures and heroes of the

book of Esther. However, there is one more hero—hidden, unspecified, not men-

tioned even once. But the whole book is focused about how He conducts his
world, in hidden ways, as is revealed only in the name of the book. As related else-
where in this book (chapter 20), according to Jewish tradition, the name Esther
is related to the verse in Deuteronomy, where God conveys to the people of Israel
that in the face of their moral transgressions, he would hide his face from them—
furthermore, he would even hide the hiding. This is succinctly summarized in
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Hebrew in three words: “Haster astir panai” (Deutronomy 31:18), commonly
inaccurately translated as “And I will surely hide my face” (“… on that day for all
the evils which they have perpetrated”). The root of the haster astir is S.T.R, which
means “to conceal.” This is also the root of the name Esther, and the whole book
is an allegory to the Divine’s ways of conduct that look random to us. How the
Bible refers to the concept of randomness has been alluded to at some length in
section 3.3. The reader may wish to review this section, where verses in the Bible
that relate to randomness are addressed.

The coincidence of Haman and his sons is now expounded (refer to subsection
20.2.1, where the details of the story, though not the coincidence, is introduced

in more detail). Haman is first mentioned in the book of Esther thus: “After these

things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite,
and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And
all the king’s servants that were in the king’s gate bowed, and reverenced Haman;

for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordechai bowed not, nor
did him reverence” (Esther 3:1–2). So we know that Haman was of an Amalekite
origin (Agag was king of Amalek —1 Samuel 15:8), and that he is in a supreme
position in the king’s court. Then the book of Esther relates how Haman had
initiated a plot to murder all Jews in the king’s kingdoms: “Letters were sent by
couriers to all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews,
young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month, which is the month of Adar … And the king and Haman sat down to
drink” (Esther 3:13, 15). How very familiar …
The extermination plot, however, failed, by coincidence (or was it?). In a
bizarre twist of events, the king changes his taste (perhaps following the drink
he had with Haman ), and both Haman and his sons are hung by the king. As
the latter chain of events is recounted in Esther , “So they hanged Haman on the

gallows which he had prepared for Modechai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified”
(Esther 7:10). And later, Haman’s sons were also killed: “The ten sons of Haman